This story contains sex between minor boys and teen-agers. If such things
offend you, or you are not at least 18 years of age, then please don't read
on. This story is not true, but who knows, maybe some day it will be.

CHAPTER 42

The "Jordan M. Paxton"

by Douglas DD

Everyone in the big valley was talking about what happened that morning.
Hardly anyone had known the shuttle was going to fly, so everybody was
amazed when it took off over the valley, then lifted into space. People
left their houses and work when they heard the roar of the rockets as the
shuttle retuned to the valley. Something was going on, and it probably had
to do with the round ears. For many of the Hakaanen this was the first time
they had ever seen the shuttle fly, and for others it brought back memories
of the days when the shuttles flew two or three days a week to meet a
starship. A lot of the older ones didn't miss them, because even though the
rockets had mufflers for landing and taking off, they were still quite loud.
Even though the shuttles were over the desert when the launched themselves
into space, a roar could be heard even in the south valley, followed by a
sonic boom as it passed the speed of sound. Some of them wondered why the
airport for the shuttles hadn't been built up on the plateau. But those
thoughts were gone now with the excitement of seeing the big shuttle take
off and land.

That night Alex and Stevie played at the packed music club again. Just
before intermission they presented a special surprise. Travis was called up
to sing. He had a beautiful singing voice and fit right in with the group.
The crowd danced and clapped and cheered and went crazy. None of the Hakaan
could remember hearing anything like this before, or seeing a group go so
wild with music. Some of the Hakaanen who played in their own bands or
played music were hoping to learn from the round ears.

The next day they all went to school, but other than a few lessons on the
Hakaan language, which a lot of them didn't think they needed any more, they
spent most of the time talking about what to do next.

"We don't know if the starship will even be able to go back to Hakaan," Mike
said.

"Gloomy again, Mike?" Alex asked.

"No. But it's true. We don't know." Then he paused and looked at Alex.
"Okay, maybe I am a little bit," he laughed.

"The question now is, do we think it's worth it for Alex to go back and
explore the starship?" Douglas said.

After some discussion, it was decided that Alex and Stevie should pilot the
shuttle back as soon as possible and that Mike, Douglas, and Travis should
go with them to do the exploring. If they could talk Roobine into going
with them then Scooter would go too. If not, he would stay on the ground
and translate over the radio.

The next day Alex, Scooter, and Stevie talked with Roobine on the phone.
Roobine said he meant it when he said he wouldn't go into space again, but
he would be happy to be in the control tower and talk to them over the
radio.

Next, they went to see the Chief Engineer at the Building of Life. He said
that while he did not want to travel into space either, he felt he did owe
them for saving the building, and he would also be willing to talk to them
over the radio. His name was Quan, and he had once been an engineer on a
starship. But now, just a couple of years away from retirement, he felt too
old.

He warned them that the starship probably wouldn't be able to return to
Hakaan. Without a crew it had been lucky to make the trip, and it probably
had been fueled for a one way trip. He couldn't understand how they could
set up the ship to fly automatically, but whoever did it was a genius. If
it worked so well, he asked, why didn't they send more of them? The fact
that they didn't probably meant that Hakaan did not survive the plague.
Besides, they said they only had put in enough fuel for a one way trip, and
there was no warp drive fuel on Inferno.

They talked to Petras, who said he could have the shuttle ready to go in two
days. The boys made their plans for the second trip to the starship.

That night Alex and Stevie weren't playing at the club. They wouldn't again
until after the second trip. Alex wanted to be totally rested for this
trip. Alex was able to cuddle with Mike and Stevie with Jim, and soon they
were making love with their lovers. Love making happened at every house.

Douglas and Scooter made their usual sweet love. They both loved being
bottoms to their lovers, and tonight Douglas was able to feel his sweet love
move inside of him and pour his sweet boy seed deep into his bowels. He
kissed Scooter and turned his lover over, returning the sweet love making.
They never said a word, because all of their communicating was mind to mind.
Their mental contact made their love all the more wonderful.

For Travis and Ryan it was doing a 69 outside under the stars, rolling in
the grass until they squirted their teen cum into each other's mouths. They
ended up falling asleep cuddled in the grass, waking up when a light rain
started falling on them. As the rain started getting heavier, Travis
mounted his lover and made love to him in the warm rain and on the wet
grass. When they finished they went inside, dried off, and cuddled warmly
in their soft bed.

Brett lay on his back for Jeremy, letting his big strong lover do him twice
in a row, covering himself with cum three times during the love making.
None of the times did he or Jeremy touch his penis. The feelings that shot
through him were incredible.

Enghar's love making to Matthew was harder and wilder than ever. They were
rubbing cocks, kissing, hugging, rolling over each other. Enghar was afraid
of losing his lover, his Meshanna, the beautiful boy with the round ears and
smooth back who meant more to him than anything or anybody in the galaxy. He
was determined to show his Meshanna the best lovemaking in the universe. He
was wondering now if Matthew knew how he was feeling, if Matthew was afraid
too. Going home seemed to be the main thing on the minds of the round ears
and Matthew seemed to feel the same way. He never talked much about his
family, but Enghar figured Matthew loved them like he loved his own family.
If he was in Matthew's place and had a chance to go back to his own family,
he probably would do the same thing. The boys shot their sweet light
immature boycum at the same time, shooting it over each other, and not
wanting to wipe it off. Matthew cuddled up close to Enghar, happy with his
beautiful sweet lover, not knowing how afraid Enghar was of losing him.

The twins, Drew and Drake, slept in separate beds in the same room. They
had heard that as soon as their language lessons were done they would be
moving back in with Honnig in Awanstor. Then they would have to share the
same bed, but for now they each had their own. Drew was restless and
couldn't sleep.

"Drake," he whispered. "Drake, are you awake?"

"Yeah," came the whispered answer. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep."

"I'm sorry."

"Can I come over into your bed?"

Drew was feeling things inside him much different than he ever had before.
He knew why he couldn't sleep. He wanted to be with Drake. He wasn't sure
why. It wasn't like they hadn't done a few things together, but this was
different. He reached between his legs and touched himself. He was hard,
harder than he had ever been in his whole life.

"Why do you want to?" Drake felt himself stirring too. He wanted and
didn't want Drew to come over.

"I just want to. I dunno."

Drake hesitated then said, "Sure. Come over." Drake felt his breathing get
faster and felt his small penis jolt into an instant erection.

He watched Drew get out of bed and watched his dark shadowed self come
across the room. As his twin brother got close he could see his brother's
cocklet sticking straight out. He opened up the covers and his brother
crawled in. Drake pulled his arms around his brother and held him close.
It felt so good feeling his naked body touching him like that.

"I'm so scared and lonely," Drew said. "I want to be home so bad. I hope
that ship works. I miss mom and dad and Jason and everybody."

"Me too," Drake said. Then for some reason he couldn't explain he kissed
Drew on the lips. Drew felt himself shiver. He kissed his brother back.
The brothers pressed closer together, their hard little dicks touching,
their lips suddenly open, and their tongues playing. Neither boy had ever
felt like this before. Before it had been trying stuff out that they
learned from the other boys, like jerking each other off and sucking each
other. But this was different. They'd never hugged and kissed like this
before. Never with this incredible passion. The ten year old twins grabbed
each other and hugged and kissed wildly. They started humping their hard
little cocks against each other, sending jolts of fire through them as their
small cocks touched. Their bodies shook and shivered and they gave out high
pitched squeaks and moans as their bodies filled with incredible feelings.
Their cocks sent signals to their brains to hump harder which made them feel
better. The brothers pressed hard against each other, humping and kissing
and holding until Drake squealed and shook with an incredible dry orgasm,
followed within seconds by Drew. The boys almost drilled their hard young
penises through each other as they came with the most intense dry orgasms of
their lives.

After their bodies quieted down, they still stayed cuddled.

"That was awesome," Drew whispered.

"Yeah."

"I can't wait to go home."

"Me either."

"I love you, brother"

"I love you."

Drake felt wetness on him. It was Drew's tears. Then he dropped a few of
his own on his twin brother and the naked little boys fell asleep cuddling.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day the talk all over the big valley was of the shuttle taking off
again. People were planning on watching, including the kids at the school
the where the Earth boys were.

Douglas met with his group in the classroom.

"Tomorrow is going to tell our future. If the starship can't make it back,
then Inferno becomes our home, probably for the rest of our lives. If there
is a chance for it to go, we have to decide if we will try to go home to our
parents and families and friends and put a real end to our adventure. We
will be able to see our moms and dads again." Douglas almost felt ready to
cry saying it, and he heard some snuffling right after he said it.

When Douglas took over as leader back on the "Moonduster" his goal was to
get everybody home. He didn't know how, but it was what he promised. When
he lost Matthew, it became even more important. He was going to get
everybody home alive. Well, Jordan wasn't going to make it, except maybe for
a lock of hair, and Robert Charles probably wouldn't either. They would
know the answer soon, because he and the two Shkah men were going to get
their sentence that afternoon.

They talked some more about heading home. Douglas noticed that Stevie,
Alex, Ryan, and Matthew didn't say much during the discussion. He wondered
what they were thinking.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That afternoon they all met in the courthouse. They had heard the judge was
ready to give Robert Charles and the Shkah their sentences. Now they were
all there to find out what it was.

Robert Charles and the two Shkah were lead in. Court was one of the few
places where everybody had to be dressed. The judge wore a blue robe, but
most people were dressed in loin cloths. All of the Earth boys sat
together, except Scooter, who was called up to translate. Scooter couldn't
wait until everyone learned Hakaan better, he was getting tired of the
translating gig.

"I have decided on your sentence," the judge said. "The crimes you
committed were the worst ever in the history of this planet. None of you
deserve to be a part of our society any more."

Douglas looked at the three of them. The Shkah men didn't have any emotion,
but he could see that Robert Charles was in tears. He watched him bury his
face in his hands. For a brief moment he felt sorry for the boy. Robert
Charles had what it took to be somebody special, and now he was nobody.
Douglas remembered a line from a book he read, A Wrinkle in Time. "Beware
of pride and arrogance, for they may betray you." That was exactly what had
happened to Robert Charles. His pride and arrogance had betrayed him, and
now he had nothing left but tears.

"I sentence you all to exile for life in the Valley of the Bisham." Scooter
couldn't quite translate the word, but he received the thought of heat and
loneliness. "It has food, water, and an atmosphere station. It was going
to be a new colony until the epidemic hit Hakaan. Now it will serve a
purpose. We will send you food until you can grow it. We will give you a
radio for emergencies. You are never to leave it. You will be sent there
next week. Do any of you wish to say something?"

Other than Robert Charles's snuffling, the courtroom was quiet. Nobody said
anything. The three of them were led out. Robert Charles hung is head and
never looked at any of the boys sitting in the courtroom.

Vordkan and Orzano would have their trial the next week. The boys left the
courtroom wondering if those two would end up in the distant valley too.
Now their minds were on tomorrow's flight of the shuttle. They decided to
have another meeting that night at Kallama's house.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That night they all were there, along with Enghar and Bandar. They talked
again about the next day's flight. They would all be at the airport in the
morning. Mike, Travis, and Douglas had talked to the Chief Engineer, Quan,
about what to look for on the starship. He said he would be on the radio
ready to help them and to talk to them.

Scooter asked if he could bring something up.

"Go for it, my love," Douglas said.

"We need to name the shuttle and the starship," he said.

"An excellent idea. Any suggestions?"

"I do for the starship," Scooter said.

"Okay. Tell us."

"I think it should be named for someone who felt left out from us for
whatever reason. He was lonely and bitter and afraid, but when it came time
to show what kind of guts he had, he chose to save his family. His last act
was one of love and unselfishness." It wasn't the first time Scooter had
talked about the group as a family, but maybe the first time he said it in a
meeting. It had a nice sound to it. Family.

"So, you mean name it for Jordan?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. The 'Jordan Paxton'."

"His middle initial was M," Ryan said.

"The 'Jordan M. Paxton' then."

Everybody agreed it was a great name. Bandar said he would have a bottle of
Pahkah for Alex to take. They could break it somewhere inside the starship
to give it it's new name.

"What about the shuttle, then?" Douglas asked.

"I don't know," Scooter said. "My thoughts were on the starship."

"What about the 'Starduster'?" Travis asked.

"I think there is a starship with that name already," Jim said. Jim loved
studying and learning about starships.

"I have it," Scooter said. "What about, the 'Survivor'?"

"Where did you come up with that?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't know. I think because what we did to get here was amazing. We are
all survivors. Think about it. Think about everything we've done since
Robert Charles pushed that button. I mean we're all just a bunch of boys
who had never been in space, but we end up safely on a planet. Then we
survive what the planet has to throw at us and become accepted by the people
who live here. We survived! So, the 'Survivor'." What do you guys think?"

They thought about it. Jim said he liked it. Matthew agreed. Then they
all agreed. Tomorrow they would christen two different ships with new
names.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day the shuttle was christened by Scooter and Douglas. They got up
on the steps and broke a bottle of Pahkah against the side and named it the
"Survivor".

Then Alex, Douglas, Travis, and Stevie got instructions on how to wear and
use a Hakaan space suit. They figured there would no longer be a useable
atmosphere on the dead starship. The Hakaan spacesuit functioned much like
the space suits on the "Moonduster".

By the time they got through the lessons and traded ideas until lunch had
arrived. They all decided it would be best to wait until the next day to
start the mission so they could leave in the morning. Alex wanted to come
back the same day. The Hakaan definitely weren't set up for flying at
night. The people who had been waiting to see the shuttle take off again
were disappointed, but they understood.

Somehow they all ended up at Enghar's house, packing the place with boys.
Enghar's parents made sure there was plenty of food and plenty of fruit
juice to drink. The Earth boys, along with Enghar, Bangor, Hajo, Mycroff,
and another twelve year old Hakaan boy from Enghar's class named Gowlin,
played games, listened to music and sang and danced.

Enghar noticed Mycroff was looking at Gowlin in interesting ways. They had
always been friends, but Gowlin was a quiet boy, and often had a hard time
getting a word in around the talkative Mycroff. Enghar noticed that now
Mycroff was actually being quiet and listening to Gowlin. He smiled. Maybe
Mycroff was going to learn that he has to be quiet and listen if he really
wanted to make and keep friends.

That night they ended up sleeping in Enghar's room, the guest room, and in
the family room. With a house full of thirteen Earth boys and five Hakaan
boys a miracle happened. There were good night kisses but no sex. They
went to bed early because they all wanted to be up early to watch the
"Survivor" launch into space again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The "Survivor" sat at the end of the runway. Alex and Stevie went through
the checklist. Alex was also talking with Scooter in the tower, who was
translating between him and Roobine. Alex looked over at Stevie. Stevie
told them they were ready. Alex pulled back on the throttle and the
"Survivor" raced down the runway and lifted into the air. All over Orkyl
people cheered the take off. The shuttle flew up over the valley, over the
south hills, and then Alex pulled back and launched it into space. The
G-forces pulled everybody back into their seats as the shuttle rose up and
left the atmosphere. For Douglas and Travis, the thrill of being back in
space again was more than they imagined. Mike had gone up with Alex on the
first trip, but he was still excited.

Alex once again brought the shuttle up to the starship. Roobine reminded
Alex what the docking procedures were as Scooter translated. The docking
was a bit rough, shaking up the shuttle, but nothing was damaged. They got
the airlocks together. Now it was time for Mike, Douglas, and Travis to
enter the starship.

First they opened the airlock door on the shuttle. Then Douglas took the
bottle of pahkah they brought and broke it against the closed airlock door
of the starship.

"I christen you the 'Jordan M. Paxton'!"

They all applauded. Then Mike, Douglas, and Travis put on their space
suits. It was time to go inside the starship.

Douglas had put Mike in charge of the group. Mike was talking to Quan as
they closed the airlock door to the shuttle. They were between the airlock
doors. Quan told them how to open the airlock door to the "Paxton." Mike
pulled the twin levers and the door opened. They went into the dark
starship, flashlights in their hands, along with a light shining from their
helmets.

They were surprised that there was still atmosphere in the ship. They took
some samples and went to the main corridor Quan had shown them the standard
layout of a Hakaanen starship, so they had a pretty good idea of where
things were. They wondered how this huge ship could be sent across space on
automatic pilot. They remembered how much needed to be done on the
"Starkeeper" and what a huge crew it had not counting the crew members who
just served the passengers.

The halls were dark. Even emergency lighting wasn't working. They were
heading for the bridge. They needed to find out how much power there was,
how much fuel was left, and whether certain things worked that were needed.

They worked their way forward. Since the elevators weren't working they had
to go up the emergency ladders. They finally made their way to the bridge.
Quan helped guide them, as did his map. He remembered the layout of the
ship even after all these years. When they got to the bridge it was
completely dark like the rest of the ship. Quan had them hit some switches,
and to their surprise the bridge started lighting up. He had them read some
of the meters and readouts. They plugged a device into the ship's computer,
which radioed data back to Inferno. Quan had them flick some more switches.
Finally Quan said he had all the information he needed. Now he had to
study it and see if the ship could make the trip back.

The boys started back to the shuttle. They were surprised to see the lights
on in the halls. They turned off their own flashlights. They decided not
check if the elevator was working and headed for a ladder. They went down a
different hall, one that had crew cabins. Douglas thought of how weird it
was that this monster was able to go through space on its own. If this
starship could run on automatic pilot, why didn't the Hakaan send more to
supply their colony?

They noticed that one of the cabins had an open door. Out of curiosity they
went in. What they saw stunned them as they looked at what was on the bed
in the cabin.

Douglas went across the hall and opened a cabin door. He found the same
thing there. Two of them in fact. He told Mike what he saw.

"Inferno and Survivor. We have a weird situation here," Mike radioed.

"What is it?" came the voice of Quan.

"We just found three skeletons. And that's just in two cabins. I don't
think this ship flew here on any autopilot. It was flown here by a crew.
And the crew is dead. They stayed up here in space and died."

The question that went through everybody's mind in Inferno, on the
"Survivor", and the three boys on the "Paxton" was, why the big secret? Why
did they just stay here in orbit and die? And the answer that went through
everybody's mind was too frightening to think about.